Video. What do we know about it? According to this 1979 musical documentary by the Buggles, (ironically on YouTube), video killed the radio star. Homicidal tendencies aside, video has managed to move from TV to smaller and smaller screens, and it’s popularity and stickiness for customers shows no sign of slowing down.

Where once video was a costly undertaking, more and more apps and programs have been developed to enable the small and micro business, brand and influencer to produce their own videos, with many having a direct upload capability for instant customer access to your creative genius. Most smartphones have all the camera capacity you need to shoot video that is fine for social media and website use, and simple editing apps mean the least technical of us can add in a caption and top and tail with a logo. Simples!

If you need any further convincing, here are five rock solid reasons why video should be part of your marketing mix.

1. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world: I mentioned YouTube upfront as a sneaky promo for this paragraph, with over a billion users who watch over 250 million hours of video each day, YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. It’s where your potential buyers are searching, so you’d better be there. “How-to” searches are among the most popular on YouTube, making educational content a strategic opportunity in this space. It’s brain hurting for sure to imagine that much video, but if you are across the SEO power of YouTube, also owned by Google, you can see why it works.
2. Explainer it to me: Products can be complex, and, well, humans can be simple. Videos can amend that imbalance by helping your potential customers to understand why it is so essential that they use your product or service. Lucky for you, website visitors are 64 to 85% more likely to purchase after watching a product video. An explainer video gives you a chance to show—not just tell—potential customers what you’re offering and how it solves a problem. If you are wondering where to start in content for your videos, an explainer is a good place to begin.
3. Build stronger brand affiliation and connection: Watching a video provides both audio and visual stimulation. The mere activation of both of these areas of the brain means that viewers are more engaged and therefore naturally develop stronger affiliation and interest in the content they’re consuming. This is crucial for a small business striving for brand recognition and dependent on loyal customers who keep coming back for more. This is probably the key element that makes video so sticky, our brains are activated and engaged, building simultaneous neural pathways to loving your brand. Neuroscience aside, think about taking your customers behind the brand curtain to find out what makes your business tick. Just because you know what goes into your day to day like the back of your hand doesn’t mean your customers and fans do, and believe me, they want to.
4. Third party endorsements: There’s no better way to captivate us humans than with a compelling story. And who better to share your story than your biggest advocates: your customers. Getting a customer on video can be as simple as asking them to record themselves on their phone. You can provide them with a list of possible questions to answer or let them run with things completely unscripted. Either way, it’s powerful to have a real person explain in their own words why they love your product, your brand, or your team. Third party endorsements have far more sway with consumers. Social proof drives sales, people that aren’t you endorsing something you own and have a vested interest in are far more believable, and more so if we see and hear a real live human rather than a quote on a website.
5. Show up Social: your social feeds (Facebook and Instagram, specifically) do a great job of showing people what they want to see. Algorithms based on users’ previous activity, make it hard for small businesses to be discovered by new audiences. Video posts are algorithm magnets and Facebook and Google are preferencing them to be pushed into your feed. People are more likely to stop mid-scroll for eye-catching video content and those interactions will always help your reach. So when it comes to social, video is your express route to being seen and heard.